In almost two decades as a guitar teacher I had quite few students and it’s funny to notice that the questions beginners ask are often the same. Therefore I would like to take this opportunity to clarify a few issues. An all time favorite is whether you should start with acoustic or electric guitar lessons and my answer is always the same: “Acoustic guitar lessons!” My reasons are the following:

When you have an acoustic guitar you don’t need anything else. Because it’s loud enough you don’t need an amplifier or any other pedals you would normally need when you buy an electric guitar. That should save you some money you could use for a better guitar or classes.

When you take acoustic guitar lessons you don’t need to worry about the many electric guitar techniques that might just be a huge distraction when you are starting out. Now you can focus on the basic techniques like chord changes, strumming and fingerpicking.

Playing songs sounds more authentic on acoustic guitar and it will definitely inspire you to play even more just because it sounds so good.

Acoustic guitar is easier to take with you on camps, friends house or everywhere you want just because you don’t need to plug it into an amp and it’s completely self sufficient.

Playing chords on an acoustic guitar is slightly more demanding. This will strengthen your hands muscles which is important if you wish to become a good guitarist. Acoustic is slightly more work but the benefits you’ll gain are absolutely worth it!

I hope you get my point by now why you should start with acoustic guitar lessons. Another very popular question is whether to use a steel or a nylon string guitar and in my professional opinion they are both perfectly fine to start with. A gear junky like me would actually buy them both but if you are starting out you might just want to make a decision based on the kind of sound you are after. If you like classical, bossa nova, spanish music then a nylon string will help you nail the sound while for country, pop, rock a steel string is what you need.

After you have been playing for a while and are comfortable playing song you can start considering getting yourself an electric guitar.

Playing a musical instrument is a very enjoyable activity and the effort you put in will soon pay off. Therefore keep on practicing as practice make perfect and at all times have fun in the process.

Tommy Beltrani is a guitar teacher with 20 years of experience and he’s focusing on acoustic guitar lessons. You can get access for a limited time to a 4 weeks Quick Start Guide with great guitar instructions and video tutorials. Don’t reprint this exact article. Instead, reprint a free unique content version of this same article.

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